Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
September is almost over, and with it for me an extended season of officiated weddings. This morning a new bride thanked me for bringing a little bit of Davis to her wedding in Sacramento this past weekend. As an Aggie alum, she meant this as a compliment, but we might wonder what it means to bring a bit of Davis to another location, and how comfortable others are with this importing of 95616.
Last night my wife Kate and I were discussing the inevitable culture shock that any of us would feel when visiting another part of the country, or another part of the world. During visits this past summer, some of Kate’s Chicago friends accused her of being too slender, for example, while we know that, because of concerning family health history, Kate’s focus is entirely on health and fitness. In my experience, here in Davis we support each other’s best health choices with frequent talk about nutrition and exercise.
We sometimes find ourselves in times and places in our lives where it is difficult to make healthy choices. In some parts of the country, and in some parts of California, the food choices are so limited (or the television advertising so pervasive) that people grab the default prepackaged foods that can stay “fresh” a long time on the store shelf. By contrast, here in Davis we generally appreciate and choose the fresh foods we can find at the farmers market, the Davis Food Co-op, and in our salads at de Vere’s Irish Pub. Likewise, while in some cities people spend a lot of time complaining about lengthy commutes and expensive parking, here in Davis our Mayor Pro-Tem Robb Davis gives public speeches about how and why he decided to give up the family car. And I think we lead the nation in the percentage of our residents who commute by bicycle.
I would guess that most people who live in Mobile, Alabama or Fairbanks, Alaska hope that their value system – one that reflects local interests and influences – will spread to other parts of the country, and be adopted by people who quickly admit the wisdom of the conversion. We certainly feel that way here, with the hopes that all of us will make healthy choices about sustainability (and, for that matter, about conflict resolution and respect for diversity). I’m sure some people wonder whether our own organic, non-smoking and often gluten-free Weltanschauung is rooted in generosity, or just our own Davis brand of provincialism. Our summer vacations are over, but perhaps we could all benefit from additional travel opportunities in 2014.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about British history, muscles (two questions), CNET, Syria, US states, space travel, Mononyms, athletes with incredible discipline, Nobel Laureates, wits, speed, unusual words that start with the letter T, mayors, fictional names that are anagrams of one another, thicknesses, putting the children first, geniuses, controversial books, Oscar-winners, short titles, dead favorites, nine-letter places I have not yet visited, jazz musicians, funny nicknames, prominent living Americans, and Shakespeare. Regrettably, the Quiz will not include any mention of the word Weltanschauung.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but the UC Davis students have returned, and their parents are visiting. Consequently, I encourage you to come early to tonight’s Pub Quiz in order to secure a table. See you then!
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster
http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster
Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Internet Culture. According to the Wall Street Journal, how many new iPhones did Apple sell this past weekend? Was it closest to 100,000, one million, ten million, or 100 million? Most teams answered this question correctly.
- Famous Ships. The ship that took Charles Darwin on his famous research trip in the 1830s was the HMS WHAT? Shouldn’t everyone know this?
- That Crazy Rand Paul. Rand Paul recently said in a speech that he would like to eliminate all executive orders by all U.S. Presidents ever in the history of our nation. What does your host, Dr. Andy, feel to be the most important of our nation’s executive orders so far? Not everyone answered this correctly, but I think everyone agreed with my opinion. A curve-ball question.
- Four for Four. Which of the following stars of the film The Hunger Games, if any, were born in Kentucky? Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci. People like me to ask Hunger Games and Harry Potter questions.
- Science. What seven-letter adjective do we use for the waves caused by an earthquake? I liked the incorrect answer “Tsunami” for this question. Clever, but wrong.
P.S. On this coming Thursday evening, Poetry Night will feature the work of two Davisites: Julia Levine and Denise Lichtig. Both are talented writers, and both are well known in Davis for reasons outside of (or in addition to) their poetry. I hope you will join us Thursday at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
